‘No, I’ll do it. I spilled it. I’ll clean it up.’ He takes the rag from my hand and begins scrubbing clumsily at the documents in front of him, smearing the wine even more.
‘Hal –’
‘It won’t – I’m just making it worse –’
‘Hal.’ I rest my hand atop his, and he stills. Gently, I disentangle the rag from his fingers and begin blotting at the parchment.
‘This is such a mess,’ he says, and I know he’s not referring to the wine. ‘My own uncle is trying to usurp me.My half-brother murdered the Council. Which member of my family intends to betray me next? Should I barricade myself inside my rooms in case my mother decides to slit my throat on a whim?’ He barks out an empty, humourless laugh. ‘My House is divided. My advisers doubt me. Even some of the Eyes are spying for Balen. Sometimes I feel like you’re the only person who’s ever truly honest with me.’
Guilt chimes in my chest, ringing harsh and loud.
‘What are you going to do?’ I whisper.
‘There are too many chinks in my armour,’ Hal says quietly. ‘And I’m going to fix it.’
10
Blaze
Icome to slowly.
My limbs are stiff and sore, my arm throbbing dully, my head still a little clouded by venom. The hallucinations seem to have subsided, yet one lingers, clinging to the corners of my mind. While the other visions possessed a hazy, dreamlike quality, this one was clear. It had been soreal.I couldfeelFox’s arms round me, could breathe in the fresh-mint-and-pine scent of his warm skin. His voice was just as I remember – soft, slightly amused. And the way he was looking at me … it was as if I were the best thing he had ever seen.
I roll over, trying to claw my way out of sleep.
Only when I open my eyes, Fox is still here.
I blink hard, and yet he remains, leaning against the trunk of an overhanging willow tree, the drooping branches forming a curtain of leaves around us.
Shock hits me like a blow to the chest. Before I’m fully aware of what I’m doing, I’m scrambling to my feet, brandishing a moss-covered rock in front of me.
‘Where am I?’ I squeak. ‘What’s going on?’
Fox raises an eyebrow. ‘I see your manners haven’t improved, Storm Weaver.’
‘Where am I?’
‘Are you going to hit me with that?’ He nods at the rock.
‘Not if you answer the question.’
‘Oh, how I’ve missed you and your questions.’
I hold the rock up even higher.
But Fox only snaps his fingers, and it crumbles to dust in my hand. ‘Sit down.’
I stare at him, furious and bewildered.
‘I said, sit down.Please.’
I count an entire minute before I concede. I lower myself unsteadily to the ground, letting out a groan as I gingerly probe my brow. ‘Everything’s spinning.’
‘Put your head between your knees.’
Reluctantly, I do as he says, resurfacing a minute later to resume my accusatory glare. ‘What’s going on?’ I demand. ‘Why am I here?’
‘What’s going on is that you were bitten by a venomous snake, managed to stumble your way out of the Ridge, and then collapsed in the forest,’ he tells me matter-of-factly. ‘You’re here because I found you and patched you up. You’re welcome, by the way.’
